JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and state legislative leaders have agreed on a financial framework for the upcoming budget that assumes state revenues will grow to a record amount.
The agreement released Tuesday bumps up the projected revenues for the current fiscal year while also projecting that net general revenues will reach a record $11.4 billion in the 2023 fiscal year - a growth rate of 2.1%.
Missouri's budget year runs from July 1 to June 30, meaning the state already is about halfway through its 2022 budget.
Parson is to present a new spending plan to lawmakers when they convene their annual session in January. He already has said he will recommend pay raises for state workers. In addition to deciding how to spend normal state and federal revenues, officials also must determine what to do with nearly $2.7 billion of pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act signed last year by President Joe Biden.
"With general revenue expected to increase and large amounts of Missourian's federal tax dollars returning to our state, we have a great opportunity and responsibility to make smart, meaningful investments that serve Missourians now and into the future," Parson said in a statement.
A year ago, Parson and legislative leaders had projected the state to receive about $9.8 billion of net general revenues for the 2022 budget year. The revised figures released Tuesday boost that to $11.2 billion. That technically is down 0.5% from the previous year, but the figures for the 2021 fiscal year were inflated because the 2020 income tax deadline was delayed from April 15 to July 15 as the coronavirus spread across the U.S.
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